The Bug, the Bird and the Bats ✔

Chapter Fourteen

Cheng Criminals

Summer was almost ending and Marinette invited Damian to a summer bash her grandmother was throwing, inviting all of the Dupain's and Cheng's over, despite them not getting along the best. Shu Yin Cheng, her aunt, hated her father and it broke her niece's heart.

Despite that, her three children, Emmett and Bridgette- -who are 20 now- -and Adette- -who's the baby at 16, love both of Marinette's parents. It's their mother's fault that they weren't allowed over often at all, but despite that they all still had a relationship with one another.

Emmett and Marinette are closer than she is with any of her other cousins, but that's only after Bridgette got into a relationship with Felix Graham de Vanily -Adrien's cousin, who's rude, snarky and far too vile to be friends with Marinette, even if he is nice to her cousin.

Her problem is that he's only nice to Bridgette. Nobody else.

Because of this, she nearly dreaded going to the family reunion for five days, but Damian agreed to come on the last day to meet everyone like she asked.

There was no way she was going to ask him to put up with the full five days of her family drama.

He still doesn't like new people, and given he can barely stand his only family in large gatherings, it's of no surprise to Marinette when he complained, but stayed true to his word nonetheless.

The first people Damian greeted were Marinette's parents -who Marinette herself spent a good two days being absolutely coddled by them. They've visited her in Gotham before, and do this every time. They miss her daughter and Marinette doesn't complain, she misses them too.

He didn't really have to greet her Nana Gina, as they have known each other for enough years now to be vastly indifferent to each other's presence.

Her grandmother doesn't know what to make of Damian, and Damian doesn't particularly like her for her nonchalant over Marinette's safety and feelings.

Next he met Emmett, who spent a good half hour wasting time trying to interrogate him to see if he's good enough for his cousin, when Damian wasn't going to answer any of them anyway.

He blatantly disregarded Felix and Bridgette after introducing himself to them and proceeding to walk away.

If the heroine found that funny, she would never say it.

Things were going fine, Damian was completely fine and handling the noise better than Marinette expected him to, honestly.

But then her boyfriend caught sight of her Aunt Shu, stomped over to her like he was confronting her- -strangely she had the same behavior over meeting him halfway- -and after talking for less than a minute in a language Marinette couldn't understand but thought was Arabic, and that she didn't know Shu Yin knew how to speak, before turning on heel.

Walking back to her, Damian Wayne has a deep scowl on his face.

"Dupain-Cheng, that woman is your blood-related aunt, correct?" He asks, crossing her arms. Suddenly, Marinette felt like she was being lectured, and nodded, confused. "What do you know about her professional hobby?"

"Her job?" She pieces together, frowning. "She travels the world on cruises as a bodyguard, it's why my cousins grew up with their dad. Why? Did she insult you?" That would sound exactly like something her Aunt Shu would do, honestly.

Damian presses on. "Has she ever given you any artifacts from these cruises? Memorabilia's? Has she ever suggested that you get a tattoo, or marking of other sorts?"